UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BULLETIN 



Vol. X 



March 17, 1913 



No. 25 



(Entered as second class matter December 11, 1912, at the Post Office at Urbana, 
Illinois, under the Act of Congress of AuKust 24. 1912.) 



Department of Household Science 

Some Points in the Making and 
Judging of Bread 

By 

Isabel Bevier, Ph. M. 




PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

URBANA 



Monograph 



. I 



113 



TX-163 

.3 4 



PREFACE 

For many years the Household Science Department of 
the University of Illinois has been interested in various 
phases of the bread question, and members of the Depart- 
ment, both faculty and students, have worked with bread. 
It has seemed desirable thai the results of these experiments 
should be brought together in such a way that the public 
might have the advantage of the information. This bulletin, 
it is hoped, may serve to disseminate this information. 
Much of the earlier work was done by Miss Anna VanMeler, 
Miss Ruth A. Wardall, and Miss Carolyn Busey, under 
the direction of the author; the later work largely by Miss 
Katherine Jensen and Miss Anna Williams, under the direct 
supervision of Dr. N. E. Goldlhwaite. 

Isabel Bevier 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface ■> 

Responsibility of Women as Regards Bread Standards. . . ... 5 

Types of Flour ._ ^ 

Terms Used 

Bread as Food 8 

Chemical Composition of Wheat, Flour, Bread 10 

Changes Produced in Making Bread ,, 10 

Characteristics of Good Bread ' j j 

Essential and Non-essential Factors ..... 1:1 

Recipes .0 

Study of Essential Ingredients 16 

Yeast ........ 16 

Liquid 91 

Study of Non-essential Ingredients '.'.'.'.'.'' 23 

Salt — Influence 93 

Sugar — Influence. 9 6 

salt and Sugar— Combined Influence 2(3 

Breadmaking o - 

Time of Fermentation . 39 

Bulk of Dough ' '" 33 

Baking „ 

•Material of Pans ' ' 34 

Covered and Uncovered Pans . " " 35 

Use of Winter Wheat Flour '.... ,". " 36 

Score Cards for Bread - r 

Williams, Anna ',,', 

Jensen, Katherinc ' . ' ■;',, 

Simmons, Owen ;o 

Bevier, Isabel 

Original 38 

Revised y 

Explanations ' , ! 

Summarv !., 

i-i 



SOME POINTS IN THE MAKING AND 
JUDGING OF BREAD 

"Bread is the staff of life." This old and familiar state- 
ment represents a universal idea, for, in whatever terms it 
may be expressed, there is very general agreement as to the 
value as food of some form of bread. The German, the 
Frenchman, the Englishman, and the American may have 
in mind a very different product, yet each of them would 
agree to the general statement. 

Aside from its value as food and its vast commercial 
importance, bread has a peculiar interest to women because, 
while many primitive industries have gone from the home, 
statistics seem to show that fifty percent of the bread used 
in the United States is made in the home. If this statement 
be true, it indicates at once the responsibility of the Ameri- 
can housekeeper for the standard of bread and her oppor- 
tunity to influence that standard. If she is to meet this 
responsibility wisely and well, knowledge of various kinds 
about bread is demanded of her. She must know its 
sources, its value as food, the factors of bread making, the 
cost in time, energy and materials. In short she must have 
an ideal of what good bread is and be familiar with the de- 
tails of the process by which it may be obtained. She must 
be able to recognize essentials and non-essentials in the 
process. The Book of Bread 1 , for example, gives some 
three hundred recipes for making bread and all of them 
agree that to obtain desirable results, yeast and flour must 
be in good condition and must be kept at a proper temper- 
ature throughout the process. 

This bulletin proposes to deal with but two of the in- 
numerable types of bread to be found : first, that made from 

i Simmons' Book of Bread. 



6 

the flour obtained from spring wheal, and, second, lhal 
made from the flour obtained from winter wheat. 

The study of a product so familiar as bread develops 
many surprising points of ignorance about it. For example, 
questions such as, how much bread ought to be obtained 
from a pound of flour, do you use spring or winter wheat 
flour in this region, usually bring to light the fact that 
women in general are quite ignorant on these two points; 
yet everyone recognizes that any true estimate of the actual 
cost of bread implies a knowledge of the yield of a pound 
of II >iir in bread, ani bikers know that, in order to attain 
desirable results, these two varieties of wheat flour require 
quite different treatment in the process of bread making. 

TYPES OP WHEAT FLOUR 

Let us understand then the general differences in these 
two types of flour in regard to source and properties. (The 
bread-making processes adapted to the two kinds will be 
discussed later.) Winter wheat is that type sown in the 
fall and harvested in the early summer. It is grown usually 
in the central and eastern parts of the United States where 
the winters are not severe enough to destroy the crop, 
while spring wheat is the type grown largely in the north- 
western parts of the United States and Canada. In general, 
the grains differ in appearance: the spring wheat type is 
harder, yields a flour that has a granular feel, has a larger 
proportion of gluten, will absorb more water and is known 
as a ''strong, hard wheat flour." In distinction from this, 
the grains from winter wheat are larger, softer, the flour 
has a powdery feel, a smaller percentage of gluten and a 
larger percentage of starch, and is known as a "soft lluur.'' 

THE PEEL OP FLOUR 

The woman who handles flour readily distinguishes 
this difference in feel, but she does not learn to interpret 
this difference in terms of a bread recipe,— that is, she does 
not understand thai the granular one will take up more 
water, or, to put it another way, that spring wheal Hour 



will require less flour to a given quantity of liquid than a 
winter wheat flour. She does not understand that the manu- 
facturer's claim that the housekeeper can save flour by us- 
ing his variety is based upon just this fact of the difference 
between spring and winter wheat in this power to absorb 
water. She needs to know the cost per sack of each variety 
in her market and the yield in bread of each before she can 
tell which is really the cheaper for her. 

THE COLOR OF FLOUR 

Perhaps next to feel in the understanding of the home 
baker comes color in flour. Now that bleaching of flour is 
forbidden by law, one is more likely to find on the market 
flour of a creamy color. If it is very white or grayish, it 
indicates that the flour probably is not new, and that it con- 
tains a large porportion of starch. Age has a tendency to 
lessen the color. Moreover, new flour from spring wheat is 
apt to have more of the creamy color than that made from 
winter wheat, because of the larger porportion of gluten in 
the former, and the larger proportion of starch in the latter. 
In any case, a dull gray color does not indicate a good flour 
for bread making. Neither is it true that a deep cream 
colored flour will not yield an excellent quality of bread. 
The world has been slow to learn that whiteness is not 
necessarily a mark of excellence in quality in bread. 
Whiteness has sometimes indicated the use of flour bleached 
either by age or by chemicals. 

TERMS USED 

It is clear then that it is desirable for the woman who 
bakes to understand the use and meaning of the terms feel, 
color, gluten, and strength as applied to flour, and their in- 
fluence upon the bread making process. She can have first- 
hand information in regard to gluten and strength by a 
very simple experiment. 

Take a cup of any two flours which are to be compared. 
Measure the amount of water required to make each of these 
into a dough of the same consistency. This will give an 



idea of their power to absorb water. That is one of the 
differences between a strong and a weak flour. Let these 
doughs stand for an hour. Empty each upon a separate 
square of cheese cloth, place over a colander or strainer, 
and wash under running water. The starch will go through 
the cheese cloth and the threads of gluten will remain on 
the cloth. When the water goes through clear, presumably 
all the starch has been washed out and the wet gluten is left. 
ftoll the gluten into a ball and then stretch to show differ- 
ence in elasticity. Weigh to get difference in wet gluten. 

While one experiment is not conclusive, yet by these 
simple tests one may become familiar with the physical prop- 
erties of flour and learn to understand the terms color and feel 
as applied to flour and their probable influence on the bread 
made from that flour. One will also understand the differ- 
ence in gluten, whether it is elastic or not, and can judge 
something of its ability to expand as a framework for the 
loaf of bread. This difference between a strong and a weak 
flour is an important one from the economic standpoint. 
The strong flour absorbs more water and yields a loaf that 
weighs more. Flours differ considerably in this respect. In 
the writer's experience, a pound of flour has yielded in 
bread from 1.25 to 1.65 pounds. Bakers consider that 1 Mi 
pounds of bread from a pound of flour is a fair average 
yield. 

BREAD AS FOOD 

The prime object in bread making is to secure a nutri- 
tious, palatable, and attractive form of food. The value of 
the cereals as food is well understood. It is known that when 
properly cooked, the cereals yield a large amount of easily 
digested food for a comparatively small sum of money. One 
thinks of cereals, and rightly, as the chief source of starchy 
food, bul the peculiar value of wheat bread lies in the fact that 
it is one of the cheapest sources of protein. Again this form 
of protein known as gluten which occurs in wheat flour 
enhances the value of the Hour because the gluten has the 
property of expanding and serving as a frame work for the 



retention of air or carbon-dioxide. Because this quality is 
lacking in the protein of corn and oats, neither of thesegrains 
is as extensively used for bread. The value of a flour, then, 
for bread depends upon the quantity and quality of its gluten 
and upon its strength, and this latter quality is usually 
judged by its capacity to absorb water. Large bakeries con- 
duct experiments constantly to find just the blend of flour 
that will absorb the greatest amount of water, or, in other 
words, yield the greatest amount of bread, or take and retain 
water. 

CHEAP FOOD AND DEAR FOOD 

It has been understood for a long time that the terms 
cheap and dear as applied to foods mean not only the 
amount of money expended, but rather the amount 1 of 
nutritive materials secured for a given sum, or, to put it in 
another way, the amount of building material, — protein, and 
energy, — calories, that can be secured. The following table 
shows how favorably bread compares with other food stuffs 
in these two points. 

Amounts of Protein and Energy Obtained for 10 Cents 

Expended for Bread and Other Foods at Certain 

Assumed Prices Per Pound 



Food materials 



Wheat bread.. ■ . . 

Cheese 

Beef, average. ... 
Porterhouse steak 

Dried beef 

Eggs 

Milk 

Potatoes . 

Apples 



Price 



5 cents per lb, 
22 
20 
25 
25 
24 

9 
60 

H 



qt. 
bu 
lb. 



10 cents 
will buy 



Ounces 

32.0 

7.3 

8.0 

6.4 

6.4 

10.0 

38.3 

160.0 

106.7 



10 cents worth will contain 



Protein A fuel valueof 



Ounces 

2.9 
1.9 
1.2 
1.3 
.1 
1.3 
1.2 



Calories 

2,400 
886 
467 
444 
315 
198 
736 
2,950 
1,270 



l XJ. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmer's Bulletin 487. 



10 



It will be seen that, at the prices quoted above, ten cents 
expended in bread will secure more than twice the protein 
obtained from beef, and almosl three times the energy; also 
thai ten cents invested in bread at five cents per pound, com- 
pared with eggs at twenty-four cents per dozen, will yield 
more than twice as much protein and twelve times the 
energy. 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 



The relation between the chemical compositon of spring 
and winter wheats, as well as wheat, flour and bread, is 
shown by the following figures : 





Water 


Protein 


Fat 


Carbohydrates 


Ash 


Wheat 












Spring varieties.. . 


10.4 


1 2.5 


2.2 


73. 


1.9 


Winter varieties. . 


10.5 


11.8 


2.1 


73.8 


1.8 


2 Flour 












Minnesota Standard 












Patent 


10 54 


11 99 


1.61 


75 36 


5 


Bread from Minnesota 












Standard Patent — 


34.1 


9. 


1.30 


54.9 


.7 


3 Bread — Average of 












198 analyses 


35.3 


9.2 


1.3 


53.1 


1.1 


JFarmers' Bulletin 389, p 16 










-Farmers' Bulletin 389, p 41 










3 Farmers' Bulletin 389, 


3 38 











Climate, soil and rainfall influence the composition of 
both wheat and flour, so the figures showing the chemical 
compositions vary. One hundred and ninety-eight analyses 
of bread give a fair average of its chemical composition. 
For practical purposes one would do well tojemember that, 
chemically speaking, bread is approximately one-third 
water, one-tenth protein, and one-half starch. 

It is evident from the above table that various changes 
are wrought in converting wheat into flour and flour into 
bread. These changes are greatest in the conversion of 
flour into bread. The process of bread making is accom- 
plished by Ihe addition of a liquid— milk, water, or potato 
water — and yeast to the flour. Usually fat, sugar, and salt 



11 

are added also. The flour, by the addition of the liquid, is 
converted into dough. The yeast cells are separated and 
distributed through the mass of the dough. The yeasts grow 
and multiply, and in the process of their growth some of 
Ihe starch of the flour is changed into sugar; carbon-dioxide 
and alcohol are formed from the sugar. The distribution 
of this carbon-dioxide through the mass makes it light. 
Gas cavities are formed throughout the dough in the process 
of rising, and it is upon the number, size, and distribution of 
these cavities that the lightness and grain of the bread 
depend. 

When the loaf is baked, the heat of the oven causes the 
gas to expand, the alcohol to be driven off, the proteins to 
coagulate and set, forming the walls of these cavities and a 
framework, as it were, for the loaf. Some of the starch 
is changed into dextrin. Thus the crust is formed. It is 
the dextrin which gives the crust its glazed appearance. 

As shown by the chemical composition given above, 
there is a large gain in the proportion of water in the bread, 
and a small loss in nutritive material due to the conversion 
of the starch into alcohol and the changes wrought in the 
protein and fat. 

CHARACTERISTICS OP GOOD BREAD 

It is perhaps well at this point to give what are regarded 
as the characteristics of a good loaf of bread. Authorities, 
as Simmon's Book of Bread, Jago's Technology of Bread 
Making, and United States Government Reports, agree quite 
generally in the characteristics of good bread. 

1. Symmetry of Shape. — Size such that the crust will 
not be baked too hard in order to bake the crumb thoroughly. 
It is just at this point that the busy housewife often fails. 
In her desire to get a large quantity of bread ready for the 
workmen who are with her, she uses the dripping pan, puts 
into it three loaves so as to gain space in the oven, and does 
not realize that in order to bake the center loaf the heat must 
penetrate that mass cf moist dough, which is not nearly so 
good a conductor of heat as Ihe metal of the pan which is 



12 

on the bottom and sides of the end loaves, so, as a frequent 
result, the end loaves are scorched before the middle one is 
baked. 

Better results in baking can be attained by the use of 
smaller pans which can be moved about, because most ovens 
have a different temperature in the center than at the edges, 
and if single pans are used, or, at most, those which hold but 
two loaves, a more even crust and a better baked crumb can 
be obtained; and it is to be remembered that the crust is the 
most easily digested part of the bread, and that under-done, 
soggy crumb is very indigestible. 

2. Crust. — As regards the crust, there is considerable 
difference of opinion concerning the depth of color, some 
preferring a deep golden brown, others a very light shade, 
but all like a uniform color over the whole loaf and a certain 
crisp quality obtained from a slack dough well aerated and 
quickly baked. 

Simmons says: "These surface cracks or lines area sign 
of quality and are formed usually when the dough is cod- 
ing and give the crackling sound regarded as a sign of good 
bread. A tough, leathery crust may mean an immature 
dough, that is, dough not sufficiently fermented or a crust 
rendered thick and hard by a cold oven. A crackly, pliable, 
thin crust indicates a superior loaf." 

3. Crumb. — Many qualities are demanded of the crumb 
of good bread. It must feel and look light, have the gas 
cavities evenly distributed and of small size, with thin and 
delicate cell walls. Bakers say that the gas cavities should 
be oblong in shape rather than round. There must be no 
heavy streaks at the sides or bottom of the loaf, no marks 
of bad kneading or chilling. There must be elasticity, so 
that the part will resume its original shape after pressure is 
removed. The crumb must be tender, neither crumbly nor 
doughy. As said before, cretiminess in color is to be pre- 
ferred to whiteness, and, above all, good bread should have 
the flavor of the wheat grain, — should give the character- 
istic taste of the wheat grain when chewed. 



18 



ESSENTIAL FACTORS 

Even a superficial study of bread reveals that here, as 
in most processes and products, there are essential and non- 
essential ingredients. One finds very general agreement that 
flour, yeast, and liquid are essential ingredients, while sugar, 
shortening, and salt, though desirable, cannot be considered 
as essential to the production of a loaf of bread. 

RECIPES 

In order to secure the consensus of opinion by those in 
authority in regard to these ingredients, the amount and 
proportion of them used in bread. Miss Jensen compiled 
from standard cook books twelve recipes for the making of 
bread, and tabulated the amounts of essential and non- 
essential ingredients which the different authorities asked 
for. The results are shown in the following table. 

1 Bread Recipes (One Loaf) 



References 



Flour 
c. 



Young Housekeeper 

(Parloa 1 

Kitchen Companion 

(Parloa) 

Lowney's Cook Book 

(Howard) 

Boston CookingSchool 

(Farmer) 

Vegetable Cookery 

(Rorer) 

Practical Cooking and 

Serving (Hill) 

Amer. School of Home 

Economics 

Theory and Practice 

of Cookery (Williams 

and Fisher) 

Mrs. Alice Kirk, of 

Cleveland 

Home Science CookBook 
(Lincoln and Barrows) 

The Art of Cookery 
(Ewing) 

Selection and Prepara- 
tion of Food (Bevier 
and Van Meter) . . . 



3+ 
3 



Liquid 
c. 



Yeast 
cakes 



Shorten- 
ing, 
tsp. 



Water 
1 

1 

1 



1 

1 
i Milk 
i Water 

i Milk 
i Water 

i Milk 
I Water 
Milk or 
i Milk 
i Water 
i Milk 
i Water 

1 Water 



V-L 
% 

y 2 

Vs 

V± 

-IVs 

m 

%-i 
i 



3 

3 
3 

6 
3 


3 






Sug- 
ar, 
tsp. 



1 

% 

lV-> 

iy 2 



3 
31/2 



% 

y-2 




Salt, 
tsp. 



V-2 
% 
1 
% 

Vs 

V-2 
1 

V-2 

V-2 

V<2 
V2 



!Miss Jensen's Thesis, p. 20. 



14 

DISCUSSION OF TABLE 

Evidently most authorities prefer to use three cups of 
flour to one of liquid; only two suggest a different propor- 
tion; water has the preference as the liquid, though five 
suggest the use of milk; the amount of yeast used varies 
considerably, from one-eighth to one and one-half cakes 
per loaf; shortening varies from none to six teaspoonfuls. 
but five omit it altogether; sugar is omitted by three, while 
the nine others vary the amount from one-half to three tea- 
spoonfuls. While no recipe omits salt, there is less varia- 
tion in the amounts used, viz., one-eighth to one tea- 
spoonful. 

One should observe not only the actual amounts used, 
but also the relation these three ingredients, shortening, 
sugar, and salt, sustain to each other. Three recipes omit 
shortening and sugar entirely; three recipes call for equal 
measures of sugar and salt, but there is quite general 
agreement in the idea that the measure of sugar should 
exceed that of the salt (in one case six times as much) while 
in six cases the quantity of the shortening exceeds that of 
both sugar and salt. After looking at such a table the ques- 
tion arises, what influence has the quantity and quality of 
yeast, the proportion of shortening, sugar and salt on the 
final product, the loaf of bread. Fortunately, an answer to 
these questions is found on consulting further the work of 
these students. 

RECIPE USED 

lr The recipe and method of procedure by Miss Williams 
were as follows: 

Salt, 1 tsp.=6 g. 
Sugar, 1 tsp.=5 g. 
Butter, \ tsp.=5 g. 
Water, 1 cup=260 c. c. 
Compressed yeast, Yz cake=7 g. 
Gold Medal Flour, 3.0 cups=440g. 



Miss Williams' Thesis, p 3. 



15 

"The cup of water, having been measured at room 
temperature, was warmed to 42° G. ; three-fourths of it was 
added to the butter, salt and sugar, in a mixing bowl, and 
one-fourth of it was used to soften the yeast. The yeast 
mixture was added to the liquid in the bowl; then the flour, 
slightly warmed, was beaten in gradually. The dough was 
kneaded for 20 minutes, and put to rise at 26° C, until 
doubled in bulk. It was then made into a loaf and again 
put to rise until doubled in bulk in the pan. In many cases 
three risings, instead of two, were allowed. The loaf was 
baked in the gas range for 45 minutes. The oven tempera- 
ture most used was 180° C. for 10 minutes, 180°-235° G. 
rising very gradually during 15 minutes, and 218° G. for 
20 minutes. The size of the pan used was SV 2 x d 1 ^ x 3 
inches." 

PROCESSES 

"This method, termed the the short process, required 
six or seven hours for completion, according to whether 
two or three risings were allowed. The changes in method 
which were made in order to produce a long-process bread 
were as follows: (1) One-fourth of a cake of dry yeast was 
used, instead of compressed yeast. (2) The ingredients 
were mixed at night, only iy 2 cups of flour being used; this 
sponge was thoroughly beaten and placed at 21° G. to fer- 
ment over night. In the morning the remainder of the flour 
was worked in, and the resulting dough allowed two subse- 
quent risings." 

There seems evident gain in reducing the time of the 
process of bread making. In fact, one great reason for the 
extensive use of compressed yeast is that its use enables the 
bread maker to complete the entire process in from five to 
seven hours. This avoids the difficulty that frequently arises 
of keeping the sponge warm at night, and since this is 
sometimes accomplished by the unsanitary method of 
wrapping the pan containing the bread in a woolen shawl 
or blanket, soiled by use, it is desirable to find a method 
involving less risk to the flavor of the bread. 



16 

The live- or seven-hour process allows the whole work 
to be accomplished in the daylight, while the housewife is 
carrying on the day's work and the maintenance of the 
proper temperature for the bread is a necessary accompani- 
ment of other operations in the kitchen. In the short pro- 
cess, compressed yeast was used because it facilitates 
measuring the quantity used. 

Study of Essential Ingredients 

yeast 

The usual forms of yeast on the market are compressed 
and dry yeast. Liquid yeast can be secured at most bake 
shops, from which some women prefer to secure it as 
needed, while others prefer to make it in their own homes 
or to buy in the market one of the two forms to be found 
there. In any case, all women recognize that the essential 
part of the product is the yeast plant, which, in the dried 
cake, may be combined with corn meal as a carrier. 
(Sometimes the flavor of the bread is spoiled by the rancid- 
ity of the corn meal used.) "Compressed yeast" is a term 
applied to yeasts grown in a special way, purified by re- 
peated washing and compressed into cakes by the addition 
of corn starch or other binding material. It has the advan- 
tage of giving a large amount of yeast in a small bulk, but 
care is needed in keeping it because it deteriorates rapidly 
on exposure to air or warmth. 

Home-made yeasts are essentially mixtures of flour, 
water, and potatoes, with the dry yeasts found in the market 
or with other yeast as a "starter." Home-made yeast is 
sometimes made into cakes as is the dry yeast of the market, 
but more often it is kept in liquid form or in that of a sponge. 
Much difficulty has arisen in the use and care of home- 
made yeasts because of a failure to appreciate the fact thai 
yeasts are plants and therefore require conditions favorable 
for plant growth. Moreover, careless or uncleanly hand- 
ling of the yeast in regard to the vessel in which it is kept 
allows bacteria to mingle with the yeasts. As these multi- 



17 

ply, they sometimes give an unpleasant flavor to the bread. 
The practice of keeping a bit of dough in the flour barrel as a 
"starter" is not to be commended, and the woman who 
does not understand ''why this yeast that made such good 
bread a month ago will not work now," will find a prob- 
able explanation in the fact that the yeasts have taken from 
the potato water, or the Hour and sugar, all the food they con- 
tained for the yeast plant and so it has died from starvation, 
or from the poisonous effects of its own growth. Mean- 
time the bacteria have increased in number and given an 
acid character to the bread, resulting in the familiar unde- 
sirable sour flavor so characteristic of certain home-made 
breads. 

Miss Williams' experiments confirmed previous work 
done in this laboratory in regard to the deterioration of home- 
made yeasts and seemed to establish the fact that the way 
to maintain such yeasts in good condition is to change 
the medium frequently, that is, make the yeast frequently— 
in summer as often as twice a week— or at least give the 
plants new food in the form of sugar or water or both, and 
keep in a cool place. Even a change of the vessel or addi- 
tion of water gives air and apparently revives the yeast. 
She speaks on the deterioration of yeast as follows : 
^'The quantity of bread produced seems to depend to a 
large extent upon the activity, and consequently upon the 
age of the yeast cells, those being neither new nor old giv- 
ing best results. 

"For maintenance of a healthy, active growth of yeast, 
there must be frequent change of the medium of growth; 
this is probably due to the fact that if allowed to remain 
unchanged, too great a concentration of by-products is 
formed. Simmons 2 says 'Yeast cannot ferment healthily 
when surrounded by excess of alcohol ; to keep in active state 
yeast must be brewed twice a week; do not use sponge 
after the fourth or fifth day in any case'; also, 'Yeast in 
sugar water reaches a stage where it will not continue to 
act until the water is changed.' Lindet 3 says in substance, 

^Miss Williams' Thesis, p. 44. 

2 Simmons: "Book of Bread, " pp. 48, 53. 54. 

3L. Lindet: "Role of Yeast in Baking." Compt. rend. 150. 802-4. 



is 

the process of refreshing yeasts, as carried on by the baker, 
by the addition of Hour and water to a portion of the 
dough, is less for the purpose of supplying the yeast new 
food than for helping it to overcome bacterial or acid fer- 
mentation, and for diluting a toxic substance which Hayduck 
showed was formed at the expense of the proteins of the 
Hour. Many other investigators 1 speak of this toxicity of 
flours towards yeasts. In addition to this necessity for 
change because of harmful by-products, there is also a 
necessity for oxygen, and yeast action is accelerated merely 
by change from one vessel to another, air being introduced." 

QUANTITY OP YEAST 

One objection indeed to the use of liquid yeast is be- 
cause it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the 
quantity available in a given measure, as a cupful. If a 
pound of compressed yeast is secured, one may establish a 
very definite relation between the proportion of yeast used 
by starting with one-half cake per loaf and increasing the 
amount regularly, say to eight cakes per loaf. Experi- 
ments of this kind showed that as the amount of yeast in- 
creased, the time of rising decreased, — in this particular 
instance from one hour and fifty-five minutes for the ris- 
ing with one cake of yeast, to one hour with five cakes per 
loaf. The maximum volume was reached in loaves G and 
H with five and six cakes of yeast, respectively. See Plate 
II. 

Excess of yeast of course increases the cost and does 
detract from the appearance of both the crumb and the 
crust, and is therefore not to be commended. While excel- 
lent results, as regards texture, time, and tenderness, may 
be attained with as high as two cakes per loaf, it is not an 
economical procedure, and one-half cake is ample. More- 
over, experiments show that if sufficient time is allowed, a 
small quantity of yeast will yield as good results as a much 
larger quantity. 



1 "Toxicity of Flours Towards Saccharomyces Cerevisiae," and "Behaviour of 
Wheaten Flours Towards Baker's and Brewer's Yeasts." Baker and Hulton, Journ. 
Soc Chem. Ind., Vol. 28, p. 778. 




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FLAVOR BY YEAST 



Excess of yeast also gives increase of volume, of crumb- 
liness, and causes some loss of color in crust. Its influence 
upon the flavor seems to be an unsettled one, though the 
common opinion seems to be that an excess of yeast causes 
a loss of flavor. People frequently speak of the yeasty 
flavor of bread. In the writer's opinion this flavor is due 
in many cases to the condition of the yeast or the material 
with which it was combined. Corn meal, for example, will 
grow rancid and give a bad flavor to a yeast cake. 1 Miss 
Wardall failed to find that flavor was influenced by yeast 
in good condition, while Miss Williams' experiments seem- 
ed to show a deterioration of flavor when more than three 
cakes per loaf were used. 

Simmons says: "Much importance is placed by some 
people on the kind of yeast used, but on the same principle 
as the salt and vinegar, the yeast is not added in sufficient 
quantity to give a direct flavor of its own. In fact, any flavor 
is chiefly due to the amount of fermentation that the yeast is 
allowed, by lime or heat, to produce. When the system of 
straight doughs first came into vogue with large quantities of 
yeast, it was frequently remarked by those who were coun- 
selled to use it thatsuch larger quantities of yeast would taste, 
and it was frequently futile for the author to point out the 
fallacy of such a statement. The indisputable proof to the 
contrary, however, is given by the fact that bread is fre- 
quently made for special purposes with even five pounds of 
yeast to the sack, and has no yeasty taste whatever when 
properly managed, in fact, not nearly so much of this so- 
called yeasty taste as in the case of very much less yeast 
under other conditions, as, for instance, with a small quan- 
tity worked a long time." 

LIQUIDS USED 

There are two points to be considered regarding the 
liquid used in bread, viz., the proportion and the kind. It has 
already been stated that most recipes give one cup of liquid 



1 Miss Wardall's Thesis: American Home Econmics Journal, Vol II: No. 1, p. 75. 



22 

to Ihree of flour as a desirable proportion. In the experi- 
ments conducted in this laboratory, a different proportion 
has been found to be desirable. Of course, exactness is best 
attained by weight rather than by measure. Persons have 
been known to differ about one-half cup by measure for the 
same weight of flour. Four hundred and forty grams — 
almost one pound or 3. (i cups — of spring wheat flour to one 
cup of liquid, with short process, in this laboratory has been 
found to give most satisfactory results as regards shape, size 
and general characteristics of loaf. A larger proportion of 
liquid gives a soft dough which on baking is likely to be 
slightly flat on top, to seem of heavy weight with a tendency 
to clamminess of crumb and coarseness of texture, while less 
liquid yields a stiff dough, usually a loaf rounded on top and 
of finer texture, with a tendency to crack open during bak- 
ing. 

The kind of liquid is a subject of perennial interest and 
one often used by food faddists who praise at intervals the 
merits of buttermilk bread, of sweet milk bread, and of 
potato water bread. Experiments seem to show that, in so far 
as flavor is concerned, no liquid is better than water. Milk 
and potato water both improve the keepingquality, contribute 
to the tenderness of the crumb, the color of the crust, and the 
elasticity. Buttermilk has much the same effect as milk and 
potato water but differs from them in the fact that it often 
leaves an unpleasant impression after lasting. The extrav- 
agant claims as regards the increase in nutritive value by 
the addition of milk overlook the fact that the proportion of 
milk used is small and that chemical analysis shows the com- 
position of milk to be 87 percent water. The addition of 
potato water may introduce an undesirable element if the 
potatoes are old or not well washed. On the whole, it seems 
better to add the cooked potato to clean, warm water rather 
than water in which old, green, and possibly unclean 
potatoes have been cooked. 

So much for the essential ingredients in the process of 
breadmaking. The non-essentials, shortening, sugar and 
salt, are next to be considered as to their influence on the 
product. 



23 

N0N-ESSENTL\LS INGREDIENTS 

By reference to the lable on page 13 it will be seen that 
opinions differ widely concerning the use of the non-es- 
sentials. Five omit shortening entirely, live advise three 
teaspoonfuls per loaf, while the remaining two recipes 
call for one and six teaspoonfuls, respectively. Just the 
exact role which shortening plays in the process is not 
known. It is supposed to give tenderness to the crumb and 
to prevent the drying out of the bread. The use of shorten- 
ing is not, as is that of the other non-essentials, confined to 
the interior of the loaf. It is a quite common practice to 
grease the dough while rising to prevent the formation of a 
hard crust, while others brush lard or butter over the hot 
loaves when first taken from the oven, to soften the crust. 
This latter process seems to the writer undesirable because 
much more of the lard or butter is likely to be added than 
can be absorbed, leaving the loaves, when cooled, greasy and 
unattractive. Moreover, this process detracts from the crisp- 
ness of the crust, which is a very desirable attribute. For- 
tunately, more data is available concerning the use both of 
sugar and of salt. It is easy to show that both of these 
substances have a very material influence upon the flavor. 
Some people, for instance, like the very sweet taste obtained 
in the use of much sugar, while others object to it because 
it conceals the characteristic flavor of the wheat grain. They 
do not wish their bread to suggest cake in its flavor. 

USE OF SALT 

Again the use of salt to avoid a flat taste is very general. 
The work done by Miss Jensen on these ingredients seems to 
indicate that salt, as is to be expected from its antiseptic 
properties, inhibits the growth of the yeast and therefore 
retards fermentation. In these particular experiments, two 
teaspoonfuls per loaf checked it three and one-half hours, 
and any larger amount checked it entirely. Moreover, salt 
affected both the weight and the volume of the loaf, as well 
as the color of the crust and the tenderness of the crumb. 




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The weight increased with the increase of (he amount of 
salt, while the volume was decreased by the addition of more 
than one teaspoonful per loaf. The crust lost in color and 
the crumb in tenderness, flavor, and texture when more than 
one teaspoonful of salt por loaf was used, though flavor and 
texture were improved by the use of this amount. 

USE OF SUGAR 

The results from the use of sua;ar were quite different. 
Sugar, of course, serves as a food for the yeast plant and so 
hastens the fermentation and decreases the total time of bread 
making. The effect upon the volume of the use of sugar was 
not so apparent as in the case of the use of salt, but it was 
quite the reverse, for with sugar, after one teaspoonful, up to 
four or six, there was a steady gain in volume, while with 
salt there was a decrease in volume. 

Perhaps the most striking effect was the deepening color 
of the crust as the amount of sugar was increased. The 
best results, however, on the loaf as a whole, in regard to 
both flavor and texture, were secured by the use of two 
teaspoonfuls per loaf. Any excess of sugar beyond this 
amount seemed to give a certain toughness to both crust 
and crumb. 

SALT AND SUGAR 

These data concerning the influence of salt and sugar 
used separately were obtained that one might be aided to 
form an intelligent idea about the amount to be used in 
combination in the making of bread. Miss Jensen con- 
ducted experiments to determine the combinedeffectof vary- 
ing proportions of sugar and salt as regards (a) the qual- 
ity of the bread, (b) the volume of the loaf. Her results are 
given below. 

^'Examination of results shows that when the proportion 
of salt. 1 teaspoonful to the loaf, remained constant as the 
proportion of sugar added was increased, the lotal time re- 
quired for the bread-making process was greatly decreased. 



'Miss Jensen's thesis, p. 48. 




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This time varied from 7 hours, 30 minutes, in bread which 
contained no sugar, to 5 hours, 40 minutesinbread which con- 
tained 4 teaspoonfuls of sugar per loaf. Results also show 
that when the salt factor was increased to 2 teaspoonfuls per 
loaf the fermentation was retarded, as was to be expected; 
moreover fermentation was not hastened as much by the 
addition of sugar as it was in the bread containing less salt 
The time in these experiments varied from 9 hours and *5 
mi nutes in bread containing no sugar, to 8 hours and 30 min- 
utes in bread containing 4 teaspoonfuls of sugar per loat. 
It should also be noted that breads containing 1 teaspoon- 
ful of salt and 2 and 4 teaspoonfuls of sugar, respectively, 
nerloaf viz., loaves D and E, required less time for the entire 
process 'than any of the other breads, the time required being 
only about 5% hours. 

"It is also evident that as the proportion of sugar per 
loaf was increased, the salt factor remaining constant, there 
was an increase in the weight of the loaf. The increase in 
weight was greatest in bread containing 2 teaspoonfuls of 
su-ar per loaf, and in breads containing 4 teaspoonfuls per 
loa"f These results are analogous with those recorded in 
Table V in which the breads containing 2, 4, 6, and 8 teas- 
spoonfuls of sugar per loaf, respectively, showed a propor- 
tional increase in weight. 

"Salt up to 1 teaspoonful per loaf, and sugar up to 4 
teaspoonfuls per loaf, increased the volume It is interest- 
ing that the loaf of greatest volume was obtained by the 
relative proportions of 1% teaspoonfuls of salt, and 3 tea- 
spoonfuls of sugar per loaf. This bread, however, was not 

the best in quality. # 

"When scoring these breads, the majority of judges in- 
variably gave the highest score to breads containing 1 tea- 
spoonful of salt and 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar. These breads 
were always excellent in shape, with a beautiful golden- 
brown crust ; the crumb was moist yet tender and elastic, he 
texture fine and even, the flavor sweet and pleasing, and the 
color of the crumb, a creamy white. Breads containing less 
than 1 teaspoonful of salt per loaf were scored low, especially 
in flavor (such breads had a flat taste) ; those containing 

iHousehold Science Faculty. University of Illinois. 



30 




Plate VII. Loaf of Largest Volume 

TeaspoonfulsSa.lt IVj 
Teaspoonfuls Sugar 3 



a greater proportion of salt than 1 teaspoonful per loaf 
tasted too strongly of salt, Other qualities of these breads 
were likewise inferior: the shape of such loaves was lop- 
sided, the crust deteriorated in appearance, the crumb tough, 
coarse in texture and poor in color; breads containing less 
than 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar per loaf were lacking in flavor, 
especially when compared with breads containing the 2 tea- 
spoonfuls; more than this amount of sugar per loaf, how- 
ever, made the bread too sweet, 

''From the results of these experiments the proportions, 
1 teaspoonful of salt and 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar, per loaf, 
will henceforth be considered, by the writer, standard 
amounts. It is interesting to note that not one of the twelve 
recipes, tabulated on page 13, designate these propor- 
tions of salt and sugar. It is of further interest that 1 
teaspoonful of salt and 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar, per loaf, 
were the amounts worked out for the tentative recipe.'' 



31 

Bread Making 

Two very important parts of the bread-making process 
yel remain to be considered after the character and relative 
proportion of ingredients have been determined. It may as 
well be understood that bread making is so complex a pro- 
cess, includes so many factors, that the strictest attention to 
details is necessary if one would secure an ideal loaf of bread. 
The art of making good bread is attained only by those who, 
consciously or unconsciously, attend to these details. It is 
just because of the lack of this attention that, to so many 
housewives, the process of making bread is, as it were, a 
journey into the great unknown, from which she emerges 
with a lump of unsavory dough, sour, soggy, misshapen, 
not worthy to be regarded as bread. Under the terms mak- 
ing and baking of breads, many factors could be discussed. 
A few of the most important ones have been selected. 

MAKING 

This includes careful selection of materials, correct pro- 
portions, cleanliness at every point, suitable utensils, know- 
ledge of the process of fermentation, and the right way to 
manipulate the dough. If one understands the processes 
involved in the fermentation of dough, it may be either 
checked by cold or hastened by heat, but such changes must 
be made intelligently. 

The temperature best adapted to the growth of the yeast 
plant is 25° — 35°G. Hence the general practice obtains of 
keeping the bread warm, but "warm" is a very indefinite 
term. The investment of from one to two dollars in a chem- 
ical thermometer would enable the housewife to dispense 
with this uncertainty of temperature which causes so much 
havoc in many household operations, including all forms of 
baking and churning. "The world do move." Itmayhave 
been all right for our grandmother to have tested the heat of 
the oven by singeing the hair on the back of her hand, but in 
a hundred years someone ought to have been shrewd enough 
to have found a method involving less discomfort to the 
owner of the hand, as well as a method more easily inter- 
preted by the novice. 



32 



METHOD OF PROCEDURE 



By reference to the general method of procedure (see 
page 15 ) it is observed that both water and flour were 
warmed and the dough put to rise at a given temperature, 
viz., 26° C. (79°F.). Later, experiments showed that a vari- 
ation of temperature between 20° and 35° G. did not percep- 
tibly affeol the result. Either over-heating or chilling of 
bread during the last rising seems to result in reducing the 
volume of the loaf, making the crumb tough and the crust 
dull. 

TIME . OF FERMENTATK >N 

This, of course, depends upon the process used in mak- 
ing the bread. Where the whole process of bread making 
is completed in five hours, the total time of the rising of 
both sponge and the dough in the pan is perhaps not over 
three hours. Where the long process is used, the yeast cake 
with a little flour started at noon, it may be twenty-four 
hours before the process is completed. Bakers say the newer 
the dough, the better the flavor of the bread, while many 
people feel that a belter flavor is secured by a long fermenta- 
tion. To their minds a certain mellowing and blending of 
flavors, which they prefer, is attained. It is certain that the 
two processes produce bread differing considerably in elast- 
icity, grain and texture, and almost always in flavor. The 
longer fermentation allows time for the development of 
acid fermentation, and one can detect its presence by odor, if 
not by taste, in almost all long-process bread. Such bread is 
usually lighter to handle, more crumbly, more porous than 
short-process bread. In this connection the writer recalls 
the remark of a baker whose shop she was visiting: "Now 
this bread I lets rise seven hours, but this bread, madam. 
I makes for folks who wants all they can get for their money, 
1 gives it to them. I lets this bread rise seventeen hours." 

This seventeen-hour loaf was a large one, coarse-grained, 
over-light, and sour, to both taste and smell. One would not 
be understood as conveying the impression that all long- 
process bread is sour, but rather that there is much greater 



33 

probability that it will be sour than bread made with short 
process. In the opinion of the writer, it is more difficult 
to secure a sweet-flavored bread by the long process than 
by the short. Moreover, much depends upon the treatment 
of the dough during the rising process. Some people cut it 
down occasionally to let out the gas; others knead it two or 
three times. It seemed pretty well established by these ex- 
periments that while two risings did make the bread a lit- 
tle whiter and of finer grain, the third rising did not yield 
results that compensated for Ihe extra time and trouble. 
Miss Williams found that increased time of fermentation, 
with frequent letting out of gas, gave increasing fineness of 
texture, mellowness and pile. When the gas was not let 
out frequently, in long fermentation, silkiness of texture 
was obtained, but with it a sour flavor, showing that to pre- 
vent the sour flavor in the long-process bread, the dough 
must be frequently kneaded or cut down to allow the gas to 
escape. She found also that the treatment of the dough in 
the pan had the most influence on the final product, not 
only in regard to size and shape, but also in texture and 
grain. 

BULK OP DOUGH 

The bulk to which the dough is to be allowed to rise in 
the pan is an important factor in the results. The general 
rule that the dough should double in volume seems to yield 
the best result. Invariably that which rose to three times 
the bulk gave a coarser texture, 

BAKING OF TUP BREAD 

The temperature and time, as well as the degree of 
lightness attained before the baking begins, all influence 
the general results. Know your oven, is a most important 
rule for the baker. Good results can be attained even with 
poor tools if one understands how to manage them, but it 
seems to the writer a great pity that women are not more 
insistent upon good tools. No one article, probably, makes 
for economy and efficiency in the home more than a really 



34 

good stove with an ample fire box. drafts that regulate the 
heat, and a thick-walled, well-insulated oven to retain the 
heat. Much material and energy is worse than wasted by 
attempting to work with a poor oven. 

The novice at bread making will find it easier to let her 
bread rise to double its bulk, put it into an oven hot enough 
to set it at once, and then slowly reduce the temperature 
and bake her loaf for forty-live minutes or one hour, ac- 
cording to size. Carefully conducted experiments have 
shown, however, that if one allows the bread to rise to not 
quite double the bulk, then puts it into an oven at a temper- 
ature of 18U°C, and allows it to rise for ten minutes as the 
temperature slowly rises to 220°C, a well-shaped loaf with 
a good brown crust will be secured. In any case, the 
temperature of baking must be conditioned on the size and 
degree of lightness of the dough. 

Two minor points in reference to the baking of bread 
have been given considerable attention from time to lime 
in the laboratories of this department, viz.. (1) the material 
of the pan used in baking, (2) its size and shape. Miss Van 
Meter worked with pans of various materials and summar- 
ized her results as follows : 

1 MATERIAL OP BREAD PANS 

"In order to observe the effect upon the bread of the 
material of the pan used in baking, three experiments were 
made, using single loaf pans of sheet iron, granite ware, 
and tin. The pans were of practically the same size. 

"The temperature used in baking was about 175°-200°C. 
in each case. 

"In every instance the loaves baked in the tin pan had 
a satisfactory crust, both as to color and to texture. 

'"The crust of the loaves from the sheet-iron pan showed 
signs of over-baking. Otherwise the bread was satisfactory. 

"Each loaf baked in the granite-ware pan had a hard 
shiny undercrust which had drawn up from the pan. leav- 
ing the bottom of the loaf concave. The texture of the loaf 



'Unpublished data. 



35 

in general was also not so good as in the loaves baked in 
tin or sheet-iron pans. 

"Observations were also made of student work in bread 
making where tin and sheet-iron pans were used indiscrim- 
inately. 

"Of twelve loaves made by different individuals and 
baked in tin pans, eight were first class as to general ap- 
pearance and crust. 

"Of four loaves observed which had been baked in 
sheet-iron pans, none were first class in these respects. 

"While these experiments are not conclusive, they do 
show that tin pans give satisfactory results, while it would 
appear that if either granite or sheet-iron pans are used, to 
attain the same results the oven should be at a lower tem- 
perature than with tin pans". 

UNCOVERED AND COVERED PANS 

"Four experiments were made using pans of sheet iron 
9 inches long, 4y 2 inches wide, and 2% inches deep. The 
covered pan was made by hinging together two pans of the 
size given. 

"Three of the four experiments were made with quick 
process' bread, using compressed yeast (1 cake to 2 
loaves). The fourth was 'long process' using yeast foam 
(1/2 cake) . The flour used throughout was Pillsbury's Best. 

"Temperatures used in baking were as follows (Fahren- 
heit) : 

Ex I. Initial temp. 360°. 408° in 15 min. 392° in 35 min. 

Ex. II. Initial temp. 400°. 416° in 15 min. 370° in 35 min. 
372° in 50 min. 

Ex III. Initial temp. 494°. 402° in 15 min. 396° in 40 min. 

Ex. IV. Initial temp. 392°. 398° in 15 min. 340° in 35 min. 

"In so far as these four experiments are concerned, 
the following facts were observed: 

"The flavor, texture, grain, and color of the bread was 
not affected by the pan used. 

"In three cases the loaf baked in the uncovered pan 
was a trifle deeper than that baked in the covered pan. 



36 

"In three cases the covered loaf weighed a trifle (a 
fraction of an ounce) more than the uncovered loaf. 

"In three cases the crust upon the covered loaf was not 
so thick as that upon the uncovered. This was true at the 
high temperature used in Experiment III. 

"In all cases the crust upon the covered loaf was of 
better appearance and more tender lo the knife. 

Various people have worked with the size and shape of 
pans and have comelo a unanimous agreement that it is de- 
sirable to have the bottom a little narrower than the top. 
The slanting rather than the straight sides are preferred. 
The dimensions found most satisfactory in this laboratory 
are Sy 2 x S 1 /^ x 3. 

CHARACTER OF FLOUR USED 

This discussion has dealt only with spring wheat flour, 
but in many parts of the country the winter wheat flour is 
in quite general use. In fact, excellent authorities say that 
the best bread is obtained by a careful blending of flours 
from spring and winter wheat. Wiley 1 speaks of a ''patent 
and family flour that will combine the strength and the 
quality of retaining moisture of spring wheat flour and the 
sweetness and tenderness of the winter wheat," and again, 
"but it cannot be denied that the very best bread in the 
world is made from the soft winter wheat of France." It 
is well known that many bakers consider that winter wheat 
flour makes more tender biscuits and other forms of quick 
breads. 

PROCESS FOR USE OF FLOUR FROM WINTER WHEAT 

Miss Jensen worked both with the problem of blending 
flours and also with developing a satisfactory process for 
making bread from winter wheat flour. The process used 
in the experiments with spring wheat flour yielded very 
unsatisfactory results when tried with winter wheat flour. 
She summarizes her results as follows. 



'Bulletin 13, part IX. p. 1235. 



37 

lu It appears lhat the process of bread making from 
winter wheat flour differs from that of spring wheat flour 
in the following particulars. 

"(1) Liquid. — For a given weight of flour, winter 
wheat requires more liquid per loaf than spring wheat 
flour. A dough from winter wheat flour should be made 
just stiff enough to hold its shape,— just stiff enough to 
spring back with the touch of the finger. 

"(2) Manipulation.— A winter wheat flour dough re- 
quires three risings; it should never get over-light; it should 
rise to a little less than 1% times its original volume in the 
last rising. 

"(3) Baking.— Winter wheat flour dough should be 
baked at 180°-220°C., thus allowing it to finish its proving 
in the oven. The dough can, with profit, go to the limit of 
fermentation in the oven. 

"(4) Shape of loaf.— The best shaped \o&? from winter 
wheat flour is produced by allowing the dough to double its 
bulk and then baking at 220°C, but such bread is not of 
good quality. 

"(5) Flavor.— Winter wheat bread is more nutty in 
flavor than that from spring wheat. 

" (0) Time.— The total time required to make a loaf of 
winter wheat bread in these experiments was less than that 
necessary to make a loaf of bread from spring wheat flour." 

Score Cards For Bread 

Some twelve years since, the writer was impressed with 
the fact lhat in teaching the students how to make bread, 
one ought to set before them a standard loaf as an ideal to 
be worked for in the making of bread and at the same time 
to give some measuring unit by which they might judge 
their results. She had been impressed by the use of the 
score card in the judging of butter and decided to develop 
a similar judging card for bread. 

The following tentative card was made and later was 



J Miss Jensen's Thesis, p. 67 



38 

introduced into the work of the farmers' Institute by Mrs. 
S. Noble King, then President of the Woman's Department 
of the Farmers' Institute. The maker of the score card 
expected that radical changes would be made in it very soon 
after its adoption, for she realized that it had many defects, 
but, for one reason or another.it has been modified only 
slightly, either oy the the Farmers' Institute or by the Depart- 
ment of Household Science, and there seems abundant 
evidence that it has been useful in calling attention to and 
improving the quality of the bread in regions where it has 
been used. Other states have found the method desirable, 
so that many modifications of this pioneer score card are 
now to be found. 

ORIGINAL SCORE CARD OF MISS BEVIER 

Flavor 35 

Lightness 15 

Grain and Texture 30 

f Color l 
Crust ■; Depth 5 

{ Texture 

r . [ Color ] 5 

Lrumo ^ Doughiness J 

Shape and Size 5 

Moisture 5 

Total 100 

REVISED BREAD SCORE CARD 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSEHOLD SCIENCE 

ILLINOIS FARMERS' INSTITUTE 

Flavor. ... 35 

Lightness 15 

Grain and Texture 20 

[ Color 1 

Crust; Depth 1 10 

Texture 

f Color \ 10 

Crumb | Moisture j 

Shape and Size 10 

Total 100 

The author of the pioneer score card is glad to publish 
in this connection those suggested by Miss Jensen and Miss 
Wi lliams. 

'Year Book of the Illinois Association of Domestic Science, 1904. p. 55. 



39' 



SUGGESTED SCORE CARD OF MISS WILLIAMS 

"From a study of score cards used in other institutions 
and experience in judging the qualities of bread by the one 
in use in this Department, the following score card is sug- 
gested: 

Points 



40 Flavor j 



30 Crumb 



r 



20 Crust' 



10 — General Appearance of Loaf 



Odor 20 

Taste 20 

Texture.... 10 
Moisture.. ..10 
Lightness. . 5 
Color 5 

Color 5 

Depth.. .. 5 
Crispness.. 5 

Texture 5 

Size 5 

Shape 5 



Note. — To be of good texture a loaf must be of 
and regular mesh, and of tender, elastic crumb." 



fine 



SUGGESTED SCORE CARD OP MISS JENSEN 



Points 
30 Flavor 



f 



•iO Crumb-; 



I 



30 General Appearance- 



Odor 15 

Taste 15 

Texture.... 8 

Color 8 

Tenderness. 8 
Elasticity. .. 8 
Moisture.... 8 

Crust. .10 

Size 10 

Shape 10 



"It will be noted that in making her score card the 
writer has omitted the terms 'lightness' and 'grain'; she con- 
siders that texture, meaning the even distribution of air 
cells in comparison with the solid matter, includes lightness ; 
likewise crumb includes grain. Hence, the terms 'grain' 
and 'lightness' are dropped. Then again she considers that 
the texture applies directly to the crumb and so it is placed 
under that head. 



40 



"In addition to the terms applying lo the crumb, the 
writer has added tenderness, elasticity, and moisture; the 
importance of proper baking is thus emphasized, as these 
qualities are largely dependent upon the baking. 

"General appearance, including crust, size and shape, 
are given a separate heading and a large score; the writer 
thinks that by emphasizing especially the size and shape of 
the loaf, the housewife will solve more quickly the problem 
of making ideal bread, since the doughiness and sogginess 
are apt to accompany large, misshapen loaves. 

"It is considered that flavor will fellow as a sequence 
of the qualities enumerated in the writer's score card, so it 
is given a lower score than appears in the Illinois Bread 
Score Card.' 1 

1 Simmons gives the following table : 

SUMMONS' SCORE CARD 

THE WAY POINTS HAVE USUALLY BEEN ALLOCATED 

AT EXHIBITIONS 

English, Welsh and Irish Scotch 

Formerly Recently 

FlavOr 20 25 I :> 

Color (2) Of Crust 20 10 

1 Of Crumb.... 20 25 5 

Texture 20 25 10 

Volume 20 25 10 

Maximum 100 100 5 

1 Book of Bread, p. 81. 



41 

The writer of this bulletin offers the following modifi- 
cation of her original card with the explanation following: 

REVISED SCORE CARD OP MISS BEVIER 

General Appearance , 20 

Size (5) 

Shape (5) 

, Crust (10) 

Color 

Character 

Depth 

Flavor ...35 

Odor 
Taste 

Lightness 15 

Crumb 30 

Character (20) 

Coarse — fine 

Tough-tender Texture 

Moist dry 

Elastic or not j 
Color (5) 
Grain — Distribution of gas (5) 

Total 100 

EXPLANATION OF SCORE CARD 

General appearance is placed first simply because il 
comes first in the order of impressions which the loaf 
makes upon the eye. Moreover, in judging a loaf one cuts 
il and thereby may destroy its shape. 

Crust. — The color and character of the crust enter into 
the general appearance and are, therefore, grouped with it. 
The characteristics of a good crust are given on page 12 
and may be summarized as follows : Brightness of bloom 
or color, crispness, crackly, pliable, smooth feel (coarse 
grainy crust means bad molding.) 

Flavor. — In all the early work with bread it seemed 
most desirable to emphasize flavor because there was so 
much bread that looked very well and yet was really sour 
both in odor and to the taste. Moreover, the author feels 
that emphasis should be put upon flavor in all foods. The 



42 

teacher habil acquired through the years of teaching in- 
clines her to indicaie at once as "below passing" or un- 
worthy of futher consideration, any bread that is conspicu- 
ously "off" in flavor. Flavor is made up of the two 
elements, odor and taste." A well-lrained nose will detect in 
in the freshly cut loaf the lack of flavor or the approach to 
sourness before it can be detected by taste. 

The degree of fermentation, the quality and condition 
of the flour, and the amount and character of the added 
substances all modify flavor, but the ideal is the flavor ob- 
tained by chewing the wheat grain. 

Lightness. — This is a quality best shown in the loaf 
though made up of many elements. It is often judged by 
size, by apparent weight, by presence or absence of holes, 
by crumbliness, and these points do enter into the judg- 
ment of lightness. Possibly the volume per weight of 
materials used would be more correct, but it is not easy for 
the home maker to determine volume. 

Crumb. — A very large part of the value of a loaf of 
bread is determined by the condition of the crumb. The 
author has given the points in judging the crumb in great 
detail because in previous work she has found much con- 
fusion regarding the term texture. She hopes in this 
arrangement she has indicated in detail the elements that 
enter into the formation of texture. The Book of Bread 
gives the following definition for it: "Texture can be de- 
fined as being the disposition or connection of interwm en 
threads or fibers," and again, "A loaf to be of good texture 
must not only be of fine and regular mesh but also of soft, 
pliable and springy crumb, that is. not coarse to look at. 
nor hard or unyielding to the thumb when pressed, nor 
yielding too much." 

If a thin slice of bread be looked at by placing it be- 
tween the observer and the light, the mesh and the distri- 
bution of the gluten walls can be seen easily. 

drain. — There is very general agreement that by grain 
is meant the distribution of the gas cavities, also their size 
and number. This, too, may be seen in the thin slice when 
examining texture. 



43 

Elasticity is perhaps best shown in the half loaf by 
pressing the cut edges together and seeing if they resume 
the original position when the pressure is removed. 

SUMMARY 

Bread making is an important industry for women be- 
cause one-half the bread used is made at home. In this 
fact lies the opportunity and responsibility to influence the 
standard. 

Lack of knowledge of difference in bread-making 
qualities of flour from spring and winter wheat is very pre- 
valent—distinguished by color, feel, quality, and quantity 
of gluten. Chemical composition of wheat, flour, and 
bread, shows that there is a steady gain in the proportion 
of water, and a loss in the proportion of protein and 
starch. 

Characteristics of good bread are symmetry of size and 
shape, bloom of crust as well as crispness, and a tender, 
elastic crumb of fine grain. 

Recipes differ widely as regards non-essentials, sugar, 
salt, shortening, but agree as to proportion of one cup of 
liquid to three of flour. Yeast is a plant, and so subject to 
laws of plant growth as regards food and moisture. If in 
good condition, yeast probably does not influence the 
flavor of bread. 

Water is the best liquid as regards flavor. Because of 
the small proportion used and the fact that almost any form 
of milk is largely water, little effect is produced by the use of 
skim milk or buttermilk. Both seem to contribute to tend- 
erness of crumb. 

Salt prevents flat taste, retards fermentation, and, used 
to excess, causes loss of color in crust and of tenderness in 
crumb. 

Sugar darkens color of crust. Within limits, it in- 
creases volume of loaf. 

Salt and sugar combined in proportion of one to two 
respectively improve flavor and volume. 

Bread making is an art that demands careful attention 
to certain essential details such as character, temperature, 



44 



and amount of yeast, condition and amount of Hour, lime 
and temperature of fermentation and baking. 

Material of pans is a question of choice. Tin seems to 
yield best results in common practice. Covered and un- 
covered pans have not been tried enough for definite 
conclusions. 

The process for winter wheat Hour differs from the pro- 
cess for spring wheat Hour in that winter wheat requires 
more liquid, a slacker dough, is much better with three ris- 
ings instead of two. and should be allowed to finish proving 
in the oven. 



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